Now Leaving Sunnydale
by Annakovsky
Summary: The night after the battle, the Scoobies talk. Set post "Chosen"


SPOILERS: Post-Chosen  
  
RATING: PG  
  
DISCLAIMER: All characters, settings, universe, etc, belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.  
  
ARCHIVING: Absolutely, but ask first so I know where it is.  
  
FEEDBACK: Please! Send to annakovsky@hotmail.com  
  
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Now Leaving Sunnydale  
  
by Annakovsky  
  
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They went to the mall after all.   
  
Well, actually it was a strip mall outside of Fondren, the next town over. The Target there was open late, which was important since their first stop, the Fondren hospital, had taken a long time.   
  
As they were driving there, Buffy had stood at the front of the bus to tell them what to say to the doctors.  
  
"Okay, guys, here's the story. We don't know what happened. There was an earthquake or a giant sinkhole or something, so we grabbed this bus and drove out of town as fast as we could. You were hurt by flying debris. You guys got that? No weaponry, no uber-vamps - flying debris, people." She made them all say "flying debris" together, like a high-school Spanish class. Most of them rolled their eyes. "Oh, and there will be no talking to reporters of any kind, okay?" They had all nodded, and she had sat back down in the seat behind Giles, who was driving, talking to him softly.   
  
Buffy had climbed down to get the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign out of the crater. They stood it up in the back of the bus, facing out the back window so any car behind them could see it. There weren't any other cars on the road, though.   
  
At the hospital there was all kinds of paperwork, more complicated since they had a hard time even remembering some of the unconscious Potentials' (now the Slayers') last names, much less information like their social security numbers or insurance coverage. And then someone had called the local news stations, all of whom bustled over to get the scoop on the sole survivors of the Sunnydale disaster. People could ignore a lot of Hellmouth-y things, but the earth opening up and swallowing a whole town did get some notice. Dawn begged Buffy to let her go on the news, but Buffy stood firm, finally ushering the unwounded out through the crowd of microphones, yelling "No comment" all the way.   
  
When they got back on the bus, Faith slumped into one of the seats and said, "Man, I can't wait to change out of these clothes." Which was when they all realized that they didn't actually have any other clothes. Because everything they owned was at the bottom of a gigantic crater. There was a beat as they all stared at each other, realization dawning.  
  
"I think I saw a strip mall as we drove into town," said Dawn.  
  
"Yup, me too," said Buffy.  
  
"Off we go," said Giles. And they went.   
  
Luckily, Giles had had the presence of mind to keep his wallet and credit cards on him, so they all got jeans and t-shirts, underwear and socks, basic stuff to tide them over at least for the moment.   
  
The cashier looked at them oddly, this middle-aged man with a crew of young people, all buying a few articles of clothing.   
  
"Shopping for summer clothes for your kids?" she asked, obviously having decided on a category to fit them in and smiling indulgently. "That's quite a family you have there."  
  
"Hmm? Er, yes. That's right," Giles said, not bothering with explanations. He looked over the group thoughtfully, blood still spattered on their clothes. Some of them were bickering in a friendly, tired kind of way. Dawn punched Xander's arm. "It is quite a family."  
  
********************************  
  
They drove to a motel near the highway, took a couple of rooms. Buffy had thought she would fall asleep immediately, for days and days, and had even dozed off on the bus. But as soon as she lay on the hotel bed she was wide awake. She stared at the ceiling. The lights from outside were drifting through the slats of the blinds, making a pattern on the wall, and she felt the loneliness that sometimes comes late at night in a strange place. She listened to Dawn breathe evenly beside her, to Faith snoring lightly.   
  
After lying there for an hour she gave up, pulled on her new jeans and slipped out the door. She leaned on the balcony outside their second floor room, looking down at the motel's outdoor pool. A figure sat beside it. Xander, looking slumped and alone.   
  
"Hey," she said softly when she'd walked down to the pool area. She pulled a chair up beside him, a cheap pool chair with vinyl strips.   
  
"Hey," he said, glancing at her briefly before shifting his gaze back to the pool. His eye (and how depressing was the singular there?) was red and his face was drawn. The light from the pool rippled over him, watery blue light.  
  
"I couldn't sleep either," she said. He nodded.  
  
"Long day," he said.   
  
"Yeah. Long year."  
  
"Yeah." There was a pause.   
  
"Hard to believe it's over," she said, finally. "No more Sunnydale. No more Hellmouth." No more Spike, she added silently.   
  
"You're free," he said.  
  
"I guess." They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the water ripple - constant movement, constant stillness.   
  
There was a scraping noise as Willow pulled up a chair beside them.   
  
"You guys couldn't sleep either, huh?" she said. They shook their heads, smiling at her slightly in welcome. "I thought I'd crash after that spell, but now I'm wired. Thinking too much to sleep."   
  
"Yeah," said Buffy. "Where do we go from here, right?" Willow nodded.  
  
"But in a good way."  
  
"Yeah," said Buffy. Xander was still staring at the pool.   
  
They heard a clunk from the vending machine back behind them under the stairs, a can of soda being dispensed. Then another one, and another, and another. Giles appeared a moment later, arms full of aluminum, the cans catching the light and throwing it back. He had gotten everyone's beverage of choice from high school, handed them around with a rueful smile. He put his hand on Xander's shoulder for a moment, a solid strong weight of human touch that Xander leaned into slightly.   
  
"Thanks, G-man," he said lightly when Giles handed him his soda. Giles just smiled, but then after a beat rolled his eyes a bit for old times' sake.   
  
Willow had switched from Dr. Pepper to Vanilla Coke since high school, but the taste of the old soda made her feel like she was back at one of their late-night research sessions, or sitting in the school lounge. Just the smell of it when she opened the can made her feel like Oz should be walking in any minute, or maybe Principal Snyder to tell them to be quiet and spit out their gum.   
  
Giles cleared his throat and raised his can. "To Anyanka and William the Bloody. Anya and Spike. Our friends." They all raised their cans along with him, and drank silently.  
  
"And to Sunnydale," said Willow. They drank again.   
  
Xander cleared his throat. "I guess we've all lost lovers to the Hellmouth now." He wasn't looking at any of them, still staring off into the distance. Past the pool now, out into the dark. The desert. A slight breeze was blowing coolly in the night air; the scent of jasmine.   
  
Giles looked thoughtful, Willow pained and guilty. Buffy looked like she might cry.   
  
"And we've all survived," said Giles, after a moment. "While the Hellmouth did not." Xander turned to look at him, and then smiled suddenly, coming back to them all at once from wherever he had been.  
  
"We killed that Hellmouth but good, huh?" he said.   
  
"Kicked its Hellmouth-y ass," agreed Willow.   
  
"From beneath you it devours, though," said Buffy. "Darn thing devoured all my good shoes. And this really cute new top I got at the Gap last week." Easier to joke about the possessions lost than to think about the people.   
  
"Hey, we may have survived with just the clothes on our backs, but we still survived," said Xander, mock-rebukingly. "Let's not diminish that."   
  
"We may be poor," said Willow. "But heroic poor, right?" Giles cleared his throat.  
  
"Well, as it happens..." he said. "I've been in legal proceedings all year over the Council's assets. It's rather complicated, but... well, if we were to become the new Council, we would have a certain amount of... resources."  
  
"The new Council?" said Xander. "You want us to become the new Watcher's Council? Are you sure? I mean, one-eyed carpenter here." Giles looked at him, quiet but firm.  
  
"I really can't think of any people on earth more qualified than you three," he said. Xander looked embarrassed, but gratified. His face played with an almost-smile and he looked down. "The job is yours, if you want it," Giles continued.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, wait. Just how many resources are we talking?" asked Buffy.   
  
"The Council has existed for millennia. It has many wealthy benefactors, and its capital has been invested since the stock-market has existed. Let's just say that 'rich' wildly understates the case," Giles said, smiling slightly.   
  
"Would we get job-titles, too?" asked Willow, excitedly. "Could I be, um, the executive officer of the magic division?"  
  
"Of course," said Giles, smiling wider now. "We don't have to work all the details out tonight. But you don't need to worry about finances."   
  
"We'll find all those new Slayers," said Buffy softly, thoughtfully. "Get research stuff to back them up, get all the books we can find. Train and send out Watchers to help them, not to boss them around. You guys, with all these Slayers we might be able to eliminate vampire-ism, like small-pox!"  
  
"Would we have to live in England, though?" asked Xander. "I mean, I like scones as much as the next guy, but everything in moderation, people."  
  
"We could set up headquarters anywhere," said Giles. "In Los Angeles, for instance." He looked at Buffy, understanding and tenderness in his eyes.   
  
"Maybe," she said. She shrugged. "I don't know yet. Maybe we should travel around this summer, since hey, we've got a bus. See where we should set up, get a lay of the land. Last year I told Dawn I'd show her the world."  
  
"Was that while you were going through your Aladdin phase?" asked Xander. "I told you, flying carpets only lead to trouble." Buffy rolled her eyes at him.  
  
"I feel bad that all I ended up showing her was the inside of our living room. Maybe this summer we could at least see America. From sea to shining sea, amber waves of grain, purple mountains majesty, all that crap. More specifically, the Grand Canyon. Mount Rushmore. Mammoth Cave. And that giant ball of twine in Minnesota."  
  
"Civil war re-enactments," said Willow. "And, ooh, the Liberty Trail in Boston, with all those historical landmarks." They all looked at her. "I'm still a geek, okay, you all know that."   
  
"I'm thinking Dollywood," said Xander.  
  
"Graceland," said Buffy.  
  
"Roswell, New Mexico. I bet those aliens were really demons messing with people's heads," said Willow.  
  
"Indeed, God bless America," said Giles, dryly sarcastic. "Bringing the world kitsch and other oddities for more than two hundred years."   
  
"God bless America," Buffy, Xander and Willow all said together, nodding sincerely, then breaking into laughter.   
  
"Do you guys feel weird?" asked Buffy. "I mean, I feel sad, partly, that's normal. But I also feel... well, it's like I might inflate like a balloon and float away. Like there might be good things coming and not just bad things. You know?"  
  
"Hope," said Willow. "It's... hope."  
  
"Hope," said Buffy, tasting the word, trying it on like an old pair of jeans she wasn't sure would fit. "I had forgotten what that felt like."  
  
They sat in friendly silence, feeling it together. Blue lines of light from the pool moved over Buffy's face like long wiggly worms, or like butterflies.  
  
************  
  
END 


End file.
